Building a culture of quality in ASEAN higher education

Quality assurance - responsibility of the whole system

On August 18, at Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics (UEH), the Department of Quality Management - Ministry of Education and Training in collaboration with the ASEAN University Network (AUN) Secretariat, the SEAMEO Regional Center for Higher Education Development (SEAMEO-RIHED) and UEH co-organized the International Workshop "Implementing Internal Quality Assurance System - For the Sustainable Future of ASEAN Higher Education".

The workshop brought together more than 200 delegates, including international quality assurance experts, leaders of domestic and foreign higher education institutions, and representatives of AUN member schools. The objective of the workshop was to promote an effective and sustainable internal quality assurance (IQA) model in Vietnam and the region.

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son affirmed: "This is an important opportunity for us to exchange, cooperate and create the future of a strong ASEAN higher education system, based on the foundation of ensuring internal quality and continuous improvement of each higher education institution".

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son attended the online conference. Photo: UEH.

Delegates from universities in the ASEAN region attended the workshop. Photo: UEH

The Deputy Minister acknowledged the role and contributions of the ASEAN University Network for Quality Assurance (AUN-QA) as well as Mr. Choltis himself, former Executive Director of the network, since the official working session in 2021 with the Ministry of Education and Training on perfecting the legal mechanism, allowing AUN-QA to deploy external assessment activities in Vietnam.

The Deputy Minister affirmed his commitment to sustainable, transparent and regional cooperation in ensuring the quality of higher education.

In the coming period, the Ministry of Education and Training identifies quality assurance as a shared responsibility of the entire system, not only stopping at accreditation activities, but also aiming to build a quality ecosystem based on internal assessment, objective monitoring, open data and social feedback.

"The draft Law on Higher Education (amended) officially establishes an internal quality assurance (IQA) system, which is a legal obligation of educational institutions, operated transparently, with the participation of relevant parties, in accordance with national standards and international practices," said Deputy Minister Hoang Minh Son.

Specifically, the new law will clearly stratify, IQA is the foundation; inspection is an external assessment tool; and ranking and post-inspection are social monitoring tools, moving towards evidence-based governance instead of administrative control.

"We call on universities in ASEAN to join hands in building a sustainable quality culture, for a dynamic, humane and prosperous ASEAN higher education community," said Deputy Minister Hoang Minh Son.

Towards a sustainable IQA system

Mr. Huynh Van Chuong, Director of the Department of Quality Management (Ministry of Education and Training) emphasized the remarkable results in quality assurance work in recent times.

As of July 2025, Vietnam has 213 higher education institutions and 2,609 accredited training programs, including both domestic and international standards.

Many universities have identified quality assurance as a strategic priority, closely linking internal assessment and evaluation activities to the continuous improvement process.

Mr. Huynh Van Chuong, Director of the Department of Quality Management, spoke at the workshop.

However, according to the Director of the Department of Quality Management, the quality assurance (QA) system in Vietnam still faces many challenges, such as the quality culture is not really sustainable, some IQA systems are still formal, the QA expert team is still lacking and the database is not synchronized.

"In that context, today's workshop is of particular importance. This is not only a forum for sharing experiences between Vietnam and ASEAN countries on implementing IQA according to the AUN-QA approach, but also an opportunity to introduce the new IQA assessment toolkit of AUN-QA, which is flexibly designed to suit each type of school. At the same time, it connects policy makers, experts, students and employers to discuss together the future of ensuring the quality of higher education in the region," said Mr. Huynh Van Chuong.

Delegates presented papers and discussed at the workshop. Photo: UEH.

Delegates from domestic and ASEAN higher education institutions attended the workshop. Photo: UEH.

During the two working days (August 18-19), the workshop included sessions to share practical experiences, group discussions on designing IQA strategies, systems and processes; developing customized implementation toolkits for each school; and building 12 implementation clusters to promote cooperation among Vietnamese universities.

The workshop also opened a prestigious forum for domestic and regional higher education institutions to share experiences and affirm their commitment to building a sustainable quality assurance system, contributing to raising ASEAN higher education on the international map.

The expected outcomes are to raise awareness among university leaders about the role of IQA, form a network of cooperation between educational institutions, and develop a set of preliminary monitoring indicators to track the progress of IQA implementation.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/xay-dung-van-hoa-chat-luong-trong-giao-duc-dai-hoc-asean-post744530.html